Internet time settings
Swatch Internet Time (.beat) Clock
Track Swatch Internet Time in @beats, using the UTC/Biel-based calculation with normal time shown secondarily.
How Swatch Internet Time works
@beat calculation
Swatch Internet Time divides a 24-hour day into 1,000 beats. One beat is 86.4 ordinary seconds. The day starts at @000 at midnight Biel Mean Time, which this route implements as a fixed UTC+1 basis with no daylight-saving change.
The page adds one hour to the device-clock instant, finds the elapsed milliseconds within that 24-hour period, and calculates elapsed day fraction multiplied by 1,000. It truncates the whole beat and the two displayed fractional digits. One displayed hundredth of a beat is 0.864 seconds.
Example: 12:00:00 in the fixed BMT day is halfway through 86,400 seconds. The calculation is 0.5 multiplied by 1,000, so the result is @500.00. Everyone sees the same value for the same device-clock instant, regardless of local time zone.
Live mode reads the browser device clock and repaints about ten times per second. Freeze stops the display. The page does not contact an official time source, so device-clock error and background or sleep delays affect the visible value.
Sources: Swatch Internet Time definition.
The display above shows Swatch Internet Time as @beats. It uses the intended UTC plus one hour basis for Biel Mean Time instead of local time zone math, so the value is not the same thing as your local clock.
A day is divided into 1000 beats, from @000 to @999. The normal clock comparison is included only as context; the @beats value is the primary result and updates live while the clock is running.
How to read @beats
Swatch Internet Time removes hours and minutes from the main display. @000 is the start of the Biel Mean Time day, @500 is halfway through that day, and @999 is near the end. Because the basis is UTC+1, two people in different local time zones see the same @beat at the same moment.
Controls and display options
Live mode keeps the beat value moving from the browser/device clock. Freeze pauses the display so you can read or copy the value, Snap refreshes a frozen value to the current moment, and Fullscreen makes the @beat display easier to read across a room.
Why it looks different
Swatch Internet Time removes hours, minutes, seconds, and ordinary time-zone labels from the display. That makes it a novelty reference format rather than a replacement for local schedules or legal time.
Common examples
Use this page for internet-time demos, time-format learning, novelty clock displays, or comparing a local clock with a timezone-free @beat value. For ordinary scheduling, keep using local time, UTC, or a time-zone converter because @beats do not include a city or local offset.
Useful notes
- @beats are calculated from the Biel/UTC+1 basis, not from the viewer's local time zone.
- The route uses the current browser/device time as its live source.
- The secondary normal-time comparison helps explain the current beat without changing the @beats calculation.
Related clock formats
For a standard reference time, use the UTC clock. For a regular local digital display, try the digital clock. For Unix timestamps, use the epoch Unix time clock. For your device's local clock, use current local time.